My First Trip to Africa

When I began my fund raising for my trip to Africa I asked a question. Is a dream a lie if it don't come true? Now, I'll admit that I took that straight from a song (The River, Bruce Springsteen) but it seemed fitting at the time. Since my trip my motto has changed. Those of you who have received e-mails will no longer see the Springsteen quote, but a sad statistical fact. One child dies in Africa every three seconds. Think about it. Count that out for a minute, click your fingers every three seconds. There's one, and another, and another.. Of course that is just an average, I am sure you can all use the internet to find country specific statistics.

So what? We all saw the programmes on TV, we've all read the commotion surrounding the G8 summit, we all know that people die but nothing registers does it? Nothing really sinks in because Africa is hundreds of miles away. It's not happening to us.

Well, it happened to me. I went and I saw. I took a chance to get out and do something, and in doing something I became a somebody. Sure it's nothing anyone will recognise here, nothing that will mean anything to anyone except me and the people I shared my experience with, but it's got to be better than nothing. Surely?

I took my chance to make a difference, to improve, to better, to enhance, to help, whatever you want it to be. I gave these people a way forward, a chance at life, a gift far greater than any monthly sponsorship. I gave them something they can build on for the rest of their lives. Education. One single word, and we all take it for granted.

I've been in school since I was about four years old, and I've never once had to think about paying for it, never once had to worry about not having equipment, never once had to worry that my teacher had nothing more that a primary school education. The children I taught and their families face that every day.

Although I am sure that you don't all want to read all of this, you want to know what I did with your money. The state of Africa has no real relevance does it? It just made me realise how much we all have and what we all take for granted. It made me want to do more. (Plans to take a gap year and do a three month teaching programme are being processed now)

What did I do with your money? Very good question. I used your money to fund my flights, from London Heathrow (LHR) to Nairobi (NBO) and then on to Dar Es Salaam (DAR). The flight from LHR - NBO takes an average of eight hours depending on the wind speed and direction and the flight from NBO to DAR take just over an hour. Both the inbound and outbound flights were pleasant, there was only mild turbulence as we crossed the Mediterranean Sea . The only complaint I have is, aeroplane food. Somewhere between me booking the flight and boarding the information that I need a vegetarian meal got lost. Joy of all joys. This meant I was subjected to vegetable pasta, if you can call it that. No, it wasn't too bad on the way out, but it was disgusting on the way back.

Day one in Africa, and a chance to recuperate after 24 hours of travel, yes that's how long it took to get from Cornwall to Kipepeo Beach camp. (images available soon!) And rest we did, a few hours in the sun, a few hours in the sea and lots of sleep. Day two was the same as this and then on day three we began more travelling.

It takes six hours on a coach to get from Dar Es Salaam to Muheza and then another few hours in the car to drive up the mountain to Emau Hill. One of the reasons the coach journey takes so long is the ridiculous number of weigh bridges there are! Each one with its own group of road side traders who try to sell you everything from flip flops to oranges to popcorn to corn on the cob - which they will poke you in the head with if you ignore them.

The drive to Emau takes so long due to the lack of road. The mud track is rutted and muddy and slippery with water because it had rained not long before.

At Emau we spent a few more days being tourists, visiting the surrounding areas, going to church, visiting the nun's house etc. An experience I can say. And through all of this one thing really struck me, no matter where you go there is Coca Cola. To which some people have told me is really bad, these people have no running water or electricity, but they do have Coca Cola. I see it as a good thing, it gives them money, and it's safer to drink than the water.

We spent three full days teaching at Msasa IBC school which is a two hour walk from Emau, we took the car. IBC is not the nearest school to Emau however more volunteers are placed at IBC than are at Amani (the nearer school) due to the difference in the styles of teaching. Education in Tanzania is very Victorian, the children sit lots of exams and teachers are free to cane the children if and when they please. Amani school generally gets better results than IBC but they beat their kids black and blue (quote from a staff member). IBC is a really sweet school, set in a small courtyard on a hill just above the village. The children are all desperate to learn, even if they have no equipment and they have no shoes. They want to be in school, and although I was only three years older than the oldest pupils there I was treated with a respect that teachers here in England would be lucky to see from a six year old!

We dug some steps and we visit the local butterfly project, we sawthe work done by Irish Aid to give these local people water and we saw the efforts that the locals are making themselves.

Average family size is eight children, each family will lose at least one child to disease.

My trip to Africa opened my eyes to things I couldn't understand from my sofa. You might think I am just saying all of this to sound good, to act like the trip meant something. Say all the right words, preach about the suffering, preach about the desperation. I'm not. I mean it, the people I met showed me the greatest hospitality, they opened their arms to me like I was one of them. Like I was family. It was incredible. People with so little willing to give so much. People with so little, who are still so happy. They have no money, but everyday they wake up happy to be alive. Happy to see the sun rise, and to see it set again. Happy that God gave them another day with their family.

I don't know if what I have written will really be of any use to anyone. If it has really given you anything, because it is difficult to turn my experiences into words. Even the pictures on my camera do not tell the full story. Words and images can not capture feelings, they can not take memories you will carry forever and give them fully to someone else.

Sometimes it takes a great person to make a difference. Sometimes it takes an ordinary person to do something extraordinary. Sometimes a nobody can become a somebody through fame. And sometimes those nobodies are really somebodies but their differences go unnoticed by the masses. Sometimes miracles can happen. And what greater miracle is there than seeing a happy face when they can turn a tap and get clean water?

You can be a somebody, you can do something amazing. This is the year for change. Make a difference. Be something. Do something.